Eubank's Northern tour lands him in Fort Simpson
Northern News Services
Fort Simpson (Mar 02/01) - Sgt. Bill Eubank is looking forward to not wearing too many hats.
Coming from Fort McPherson, where he was in charge of the RCMP detachment for nearly three years, he was also responsible for everything "from shingles to tires," he said.
In Fort Simpson, however, the majority of RCMP housing is taken care of by Public Works and Services and the local service stations repair vehicles -- freeing Eubank from his small-community duties.
"My life is going to be an awful lot easier," said a smiling Eubank, whose first day in his new post was Feb. 20.
The diversity of businesses is one of the first things he noticed about the community. He also remarked on the orderly nature of the village.
"It's a far more organized community with fences and actual yards and defined roadways instead of wherever people decide to drive," he said. "The roads are a nice benefit too. You can actually go somewhere if you want."
Roads aren't a luxury that Eubank has had throughout his 22-and-a-half-year career. He's worked in a number of remote communities, including Arviat, Nunavut. He has also been stationed in the Yukon (Watson Lake, Whitehorse, Pelly Crossing); Saskatchewan (Biggar and LaLoche); and Ontario (Milton, Toronto and London).
During the Balkans war in 1993, he did a seven month United Nations tour of the former Yugoslavia.
In his prior position in Fort McPherson, he was in charge of a five-member detachment. In Fort Simpson, he will oversee six other police officers when at full staff and with a corporal in charge of operations, his duties will be primarily administrative.
"This will be new for me because I've always been operationally focused," he said, adding that he's been assigned to everything from the drug section to immigration during his career.
A former high school teacher born in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Eubank said he wanted to join the RCMP since he was eight years old. But he pursued education instead, until his younger brother entered the ranks and convinced him to make the leap too.
"So I said, 'Enough teaching.' and decided to join as well," Eubank recalled.
Describing himself as fortunate for having seen much of the country, parts of Europe and the U.S., he and his three-month-old German Shepherd puppy, Mike, are now happy to be settling into their new home in Fort Simpson after a few weeks on the road and living out of motels.
